The invention pertains to a cutting assembly for removing material from a workpiece. More specifically, the invention pertains to such a cutting assembly that includes a toolholder, which carries a cutting insert, wherein the toolholder provides the capability to supply coolant to the cutting insert.
In a cutting operation, such as, for example, a grooving operation, a grooving or cutting insert engages a workpiece so as to remove material from the workpiece. In some cutting assemblies, an upper seat and a lower seat retain the cutting insert. Exemplary cutting assemblies wherein an upper seat and a lower seat retain a cutting insert are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,032 to Duwe et al. and PCT Patent Application Publication WO 2009/141815 A1 to Iscar, Ltd.
Material removal operations can generate heat at the interface between the cutting insert and the workpiece. Typically, it is advantageous to provide coolant to the vicinity of the interface between the cutting insert and the workpiece. The following patent documents are exemplary of arrangements that delivery coolant to the vicinity of a cutting insert: U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,327 to Wertheim; U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,854 to Wertheim; U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,805 to Lagerberg; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,641,422 to Berminge et al.
Even though the arrangements disclosed in some of the above patent documents deliver coolant, it remains highly desirable to provide a cutting assembly that delivers in an efficient fashion coolant to the interface between the cutting insert and the workpiece. This is especially true for a cutting operation in which the cutting insert engages the workpiece surface at the outside diameter (i.e., outside workpiece surface) for the purpose of cutting a groove. During the cutting operation, as the depth of the groove increases, the difficulty connected with coolant delivery to the cutting insert-workpiece interface increases. As can be appreciated, it would very beneficial to provide a cutting assembly (and especially a toolholder) that delivers coolant to the cutting insert-workpiece interface even as the depth of the groove increases during the cutting operation.